Google — the powerhouse synonymous with search — has just upped its Open Source support to the tune of more than a quarter of a million dollars, with a $300,000 donation to Oregon State University's Open Source Lab.

Every once in a while here at Breaking News, we like to indulge in a tangent to bring you interesting news that isn't exactly about Linux and Open Source. In that spirit, we bring you a rather unusual story out of Edinburgh, Scotland, where last Friday a penguin — sadly, not named Tux — was formally knighted.

After issuing a two-line reply in response to a petition signed by more than two hundred Android developers, Google has finally gotten around to releasing the Software Development Kits it hid from programmers for months.

Something is going on at Fedora Project central, but what exactly it is, we don't quite know.

Somewhat known for his vivid — and sometimes vituperative — commentary, Linus Torvalds is no stranger to controversy. That experience may do him well this week, as the torches and pitchforks have come out and are marching his way after an interview with Network World reignited the flames fanned by last month's colorful commentary on security.

The turmoil that began just over a month ago with a mis-addressed email has boiled over again for Google, after the company issued what was termed "verbal silence" in reply to a petition from more than 200 Android developers.

The big story in security circles this week has been the plight of three MIT students all-but-imprisoned by officials of Boston's transport system with the help of a Federal judge who — by all appearances — has somehow missed reading the First Amendment in his twenty-two years on the bench.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed Open Source developers — and a model train enthusiast — a hard-fought victory yesterday, as it laid down the law — quite literally — regarding copyright infringement claims that result from the violation of an Open Source license.

It's no secret that Linux users face difficulties in the commercial world. Whether it's being painted as masses of hackers — as eBay once did, — being forced to listen to FUD-filled "warnings" about Open Source, or the lesser but far more common case of the service provider that just "doesn't get" Linux, we've all experienced the headache that comes with dealing with the Windows-only elements of the world. For some users, such problems force them back to Windowsland — but for some, it just makes them mad.

The general assembly of KDE e.V. — the non-profit foundation that handles the KDE project's legal and financial matters — met last week in the midst of this year's KDE Akademy — currently underway through Friday in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium — and out of their meeting comes a triad of freshly ratified proposals designed to protect the best interests of the project and its members.

Xandros — the new owners of Linspire — have been busy the last few weeks, and it seems most of their time has been spent with a scythe. Last week, it was Ubuntu meeting the block, now this week, it's Linspire — the company they just paid untold millions for.

The Linux Foundation — those foster-ers of growth who, among other important things, keep Linus Torvalds a-coding — have just released an app that will reportedly ignite a passion among programmers for Linux development. What is this tool with Cupid-like powers, you ask? A shiny little program called the Linux Application Checker, which just hit its third beta.

Have you been looking for a way to merge your PBX, email, IM, and calendar/contacts onto one unified server? If so, Ubuntu has the announcement you've been waiting for, as they revealed a so-fresh-it-still-has-the-shrinkwrap partnership with Unison Technologies during the LinuxWorld Expo on Tuesday.

After last month's super-secret acquisition of Linspire by Xandros, there was much speculation about what might become of Freespire, Linspire's Open Source side. The curtain has now been pulled back, as Xandros announced yesterday just what users can expect from the next version of Freespire.

The Black Hat Briefings — the "premier North American technical information security conference" — is up and running in glittering Los Vegas, but it's running without its crown jewel, after Apple put the kibosh on what was set to be a first-of-its-kind panel discussion.